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Sources:
Elliot, J.H. Imperial Spain: 1469-1716 (United Kingdom: Penguin Books, 2002).
Kamen, Henry. Spain, 1469–1714: A Society of Conflict (United Kingdom: Pearson Education Ltd., 2005).
Maltby, William S. The Rise and Fall of the Spanish Empire (United Kingdom: Palgrave Macmillan, 2009).
Stein, Stanley J., Stein, Barbara H. Silver, Trade, and War: Spain and America in the Making of Early Modern Europe (United States: John Hopkins University Press, 2000).
Vives, Jaime Vicens. An Economic History of Spain (United States: Princeton University Press, 1969).
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https://docs.google.com/document/d/1sYjrtdKP67bvEH4UWOv-24_dwJGxZ395ZuczyKOUFNw/edit?usp=sharing
En cuestión de siglos?!? 😂
Another thing to point out was that the Spanish spent most of the Middle Ages fighting the Reconquista. During that time, the Spanish upper class and middle class focused their efforts on training for the military, whilst other professions were seen as being less important. This meant that, when the Reconquista ended in 1492, Spain had a strong army but a lack of skilled workers and therefore a poor economy.
Because the economy hadn’t developed, Spain didn’t have much of an educated merchant middle class, which meant there was no one to compete with the upper class landowners. The upper class then ended up with absolute power over the country.
The big priority of the upper class was to hold onto power at all costs so they purposely suppressed education and economic freedoms so that the masses couldn’t challenge them. This kept the upper class in a strong position but, the price they had to pay for it was that, due to the fact that the masses had fewer opportunities to learn skills and set up businesses, the economy remained undeveloped. The upper class were essentially choosing to be rich in a poor country, rather than live in a rich country and have to worry about the middle class supplanting them.
The other big priority of the upper class was to spread the Catholic faith. After the Reconquista ended they immediately started building up their empire whilst also fighting wars in Europe.
Maintaining a strong military took a huge amount of money. The upper class realised that if they were to pay for this by growing Spain’s economy, it’d mean surrendering more power to the masses so that they could grow Spain’s industries.
However, in the American colonies, the Spanish discovered huge amounts of gold and silver. The upper class realised that, if they traded precious metals with other Europeans, they could buy all the resources they needed to supply their army. Therefore the upper class could continue their wars without giving away any of their privileges.
The Spanish upper class would’ve realised that increasing the supply of gold and silver would devalue it over time, but their assumption was that they only needed this wealth supply to last until they had successfully subjugated their enemies.
The big mistake the Spanish made was underestimating their enemies. The wars in Europe dragged on for decades and the Spanish ended up burning through their wealth supply, importing so much gold and silver that, by the middle of the 1600s, the prices had fallen so low that the Spanish could no longer afford to fund their wars. Forced to sign the 1648 Peace of Westphalia, Spain ended the 80 Years War and the 30 Years War.
Spain still controlled a vast empire but its colonies, like in Spain itself, still featured a rigid class system which allowed little freedom for the masses. Attempts at reform were made but, the power of the upper class was entrenched. Surrendering power was always seen as a risk not worth taking and the empire was allowed to ossify to preserve the positions of the elites.
One important consideration, only a fifth of the imported gold and silver belonged to the crown. The rest was in private hands. So not all the wealth was available for public spending.
Spain was still a power until 1898
Silver was catastrophic for mainland spain industries of textiles and many others, that would have allowed a stronger industry and internal economy within spain. Silver simply made spanish products too expensive to compete abroad and thus, rely on imports. All that finally ended with bankrupty which further destroyed spanish economy. This is visible through most of the pre-1492 vs post 1492. Most great buildings in the mainland spain were built either pre-america or after the independence of American colonies.
Hi, nice video. But if Naples is undrr the Spanish Crown, why is not Portugal? .
Just in time for EUV
The Spanish Empire is the Bihemispheric Rome.
The fascinating thing about Spain is that the empire was salvageable at so many points, unlike other contemporaries that crashed and burned, like the Ottomans and Austrian Empire later on. . The negligence and arrogance of the Habsburg Crown was the only thing that kept it from flourishing and instead left failed states in the former colonies and eternal civil wars and failure in the mainland.
Muy interesante!